First cousins Randy Owen (b. December 14, 1949; lead vocal, rhythm guitar) and Teddy Gentry (b. January 22, 1952; vocals, bass) form the core of Alabama. Owen and Gentry grew up on separate cotton farms on Lookout Mountain in Alabama, but the pair learned how to play guitar together; the duo also had sang in church together before they were six years old. On their own, Gentry and Owen played in a number of different bands during the '60s, playing country, bluegrass and pop on different occasions. During high school, the duo teamed with another cousin, Jeff Cook (b. August 27, 1949; lead guitar, vocals, keyboards, fiddle), to form Young Country in 1969. Before joining his cousins, Cook had played in a number of bands and was a rock & roll DJ. Young Country's first gig was at a high school talent contest, where they performed a Merle Haggard song; the band won first prize at the contest, a trip to the Grand Ole Opry. However, the group was fairly inactive as Owen and Cook went to college.

After Randy Owen and Jeff Cook graduated from college, they moved with Teddy Gentry to Anniston, Alabama, with the intention of keeping the band together. Sharing an apartment, the band practiced at night and performed manual labor during the day. They changed their name to Wildcountry in 1972, adding drummer Bennet Vartanian to the lineup. The following year, the band made the decision to become professional musicians, quitting their jobs and playing a number of bars in the South East. During this time, Wildcountry began writing their own songs, including "My Home's In Alabama." Vartanian left the band soon after they turned professional; after losing four more drummers, they added Rick Scott to the lineup in 1974.

Wildcountry changed their name to Alabama in 1977, the same year they signed a one-record contract with GRT. The resulting single, "I Wanna Be With You Tonight," was a minor success, peaking in the Top 80. Nevertheless, the single's performance was an indication that Alabama was one of the most popular band in the Southeast; at the end of the decade, the group was playing over 300 shows a year. After "I Wanna Be With You Tonight," the group borrowed $4,000 from a Fort Payne bank, using the money to record and release their own records, which they sold at their shows. When GRT declared bankruptcy a year after the release of "I Wanna Be With You Tonight," Alabama discovered that they were forbidden from recording with another label because of a hidden clause in their contract. For two years, the band raised money to buy out their contract. In 1979, they were finally able to begin recording again. That same year, Scott left the band. Scott was replaced by Mark Herndon, a former rock drummer who helped give Alabama its signature sound.

Later in 1979, Alabama self-recorded and released an album, hiring an independent record promoter to help them get radio play for the single, "I Wanna Come Over." The band also sent hundreds of hand-written letters to program directors and DJs across the country. "I Wanna Come Over" gained the attention of MDJ Records, a small label based in Dallas. MDJ released the single, and it reached number 33 on the charts. In 1980, MDJ released the group's "My Home's In Alabama," which made it into the Top 20. Based on the single's success, Alabama performed at the Country Music New Faces show, where they were spotted by an RCA Records talent scout, who signed them after the show.

Alabama released its first RCA single, "Tennessee River," late in 1980. Produced by Harold Shedd, the song began a remarkable streak of 21 number one hits (interrupted by the 1982 holiday single, "Christmas in Dixie"), which ran until 1987; after one number seven hit, the streak resumed for another six singles, resulting in a total of 27 number one singles during the decade. Taken alone, the amount of chart-topping singles is proof of Alabama's popularity, but they also won numerous awards, had seven multi-platinum albums, and crossed over to the pop charts nine times during the '80s.